Nepalese police search for missing teenage `Buddha'

A teenage boy in Nepal whose followers believe is the reincarnation of Buddha has suddenly gone missing after 10 months of meditation, allegedly without food or water, officials said yesterday.

Followers of Ram Bahadur Banjan, 15, reported his disappearance and a police team has been sent to the jungles of Bara, about 160km south of the capital, Kathmandu, to investigate, said Santaraj Subedi, the chief government official in the district.

It was still unclear when he went missing, but initial reports said he was last seen on Friday.

Subedi said police were investigating if the boy just wandered into the jungle or he was abducted by robbers.

Banjan has been sitting cross-legged and motionless with eyes closed in a niche among the roots of a tree in the jungle since May 17 last year, according to his associates, who claim he has had no food or water during that period.

In recent months, thousands of people have come to glimpse the boy, many who believe Banjan is a reincarnation of Gautama Siddhartha, who was born not far away in southwestern Nepal around 500BC and later became revered as the Buddha.

Officials who investigated the claim never interviewed the boy and were unable to verify the claims.

Visitors have only been allowed to view the Banjan between dawn and dusk from a roped-off area about 25m away.

His followers kept him from public view at night, when they would place a screen in front of him.

Buddhist priests who visited him said the boy was not the incarnation of Buddha but believed he had been meditating for months.

Buddhism teaches that right thinking and self-control can enable people to achieve nirvana -- a divine state of peace and release from desire.